1 John 3: Be the Children You Already Are

When I was a young teenager I use to groan with embarrassment at my father’s corny, dry jokes. Now I have the same sense of humor. I used to role my eyes when my father would try to kid around with little kids at church. Now I do the same. I open my mouth now when I talk to my sons and I hear my father speaking. I get that same poof in my hair when it gets long, and I wait too long to get a haircut, just like he did when I was young.

Genetics win out. I am my father’s son.

So, too, the recipients of John’s letter. They too are children of their Father:

Look at the remarkable love the father has given us — that we should be called God’s children! That indeed is what you are. (3:1)

But just like I wasn’t very similar to my father at thirteen — in fact I wanted to be totally different — these Christians may, in fact, be God’s children but they are still struggling to mature into that identity:

Beloved ones, we are now, already, God’s children; it hasn’t yet been revealed what we are going to be. We know that when he is revealed we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. (3:2)

With God there are some things that are already true, but they are not yet fully true. Some spiritual realities take time to come into being. Some take a total recreation that will only come at the great New Creation. But this we can rest assured in: genetics win out. Those who are truly fathered by God, those who are truly God’s children, they will become like the father:

Everyone who is fathered by God does not go on sinning, because God’s offspring remain in him; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been fathered by God. (3:9)

Now, is the time for John’s recipients (and for us) to truly be the children of God we already are. Make it a reality. Put it into action. The ultimate spiritual change will happen through spiritual power alone. However, spirituality is not just an ethereal concept for the spiritual mind; it is intended to be lived out bodily in the flesh.

Children, let us not love in word, or in speech, but in deed and in truth. (3:18)

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3 thoughts on “1 John 3: Be the Children You Already Are”

I noticed more clearly the reason for our love and obedience. God loved us and gave his Son for us. Because of this sacrifice, we love him and respond by loving others and keeping his commandments. Our love for others manifests itself in service to them. We understand and experience love, though, not because of the love we give but because of Christ’s sacrifice of his life for us.